Even George W Bush Makes House Republicans Look Inept, Callous, Stupid and Mean

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:41 pm

bush-immigrant

When Former President George W. Bush can make you look bad, you’re in deep doo-doo as Dick Cheney would say.

Wednesday morning, the former president spoke at a naturalization ceremony for new citizens held at his presidential library in Dallas, Texas. He managed to poke a big stick in House Republicans’ eyes by saying, “During the debate, we keep a benevolent spirit in mind, and we understand the contributions immigrants make to our country.”

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

A “benevolent spirit” and House Republicans do not go together. Ever. These are the folks elected by those who cheer the death of the uninsured and blindly hate immigrants.

Watch here via NBC News:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As House Republicans look for any excuse to kick the immigration reform can down the road so as to avoid the humiliating failure that will be their immigration reform attempt and the inevitable political fallout, former President Bush lit a flame under their anti immigrant talk.

Bush urged a policy resolution to this immigration debate, “I don’t intend to get involved in the politics or the specifics of policy, but I do hope there’s a positive resolution to the debate. And I hope, during the debate, we keep a benevolent spirit in mind, and we understand the contributions immigrants make to our country.”

Not all was gentle shaming, though. The former president acknowledged that the “system is broken” even though in reality, there are less illegal immigrants crossing into this country under Obama than there were under Bush. But hey, he had to give his party something.

“We are a nation of immigrants and we must uphold our tradition which has strengthened our country in so many ways. We can uphold our tradition of assimilating immigrants, and honoring our heritage of our nation built on the rule of law. But we have a problem. The laws governing the immigration system aren’t working; the system is broken.”

The nation awaits the House’s response to the immigration reform passed by the Senate, but we all know there isn’t anything decent coming out of the House unless Nancy Pelosi and the Dems make it happen. And that won’t happen unless Republicans drop the immigrant hate.

Were House Republicans, especially the novice Tea Party caucus, capable of shame, they would be hanging their heads a bit this morning. When George W Bush makes you look inept, callous, stupid, and mean in comparison, you’ve got trouble.

Speaking of Bushisms, we got at least a nod to one when Bush noted that an Irish immigrant designed the White House and sniffed, “I’m familiar with the place.” He waited for the laughter with that Bush rhythm and then, smirking, “He did a fine job.” He broke out into his pleased with himself grin at getting this delivery just right, causing this writer to wince against the barely gone Bush PTSD.

However, Bush was never a hater of the Other like the modern day Republican Party. Though he could have done a much better job at unifying the country after 911, he didn’t deliberately stoke racial and religious animosity the way today’s GOP does.

House Republicans are still desperately searching for any excuse not to pass immigration reform, except the truth. This debate threatens to expose the inner civil war of the GOP within the House, and thereby reveal the Republicans as the entire reason nothing gets done in DC, as well as killing their party with Hispanics for a generation. If John kick-the-can-down-the-road Boehner thinks he can blame the House failure on ObamaCare, he’s only fooling himself and his base.


Copyright PoliticusUSA LLC 2008-2023